Robbie Nightingale delighted as Cambridge City find their stride

Lilywhites victory moves them up to second

Robbie Nightingale feels Cambridge City have hit their straps after moving second in the Evo-Stik League South, Division One Central table with a 6-2 win over Yaxley.

It took the Lilywhites a bit of time to get going this season with only one win in their first four league matches, but that form has now been turned on its head.

An impressive hat-trick from Josh Oyinsan and efforts from Ryan Sharman, James Hall and Ebby Nelson-Addy saw them shrug off being pegged back twice to earn victory over Yaxley, and make it four games unbeaten.

So after a slow beginning, the win puts them three points behind leaders Bromsgrove.

“There wasn’t a lot wrong with the group that we had towards the end of last year and 95 per cent of that is still here,” said City manager Nightingale.

“It was just a question of trying to get us up to speed as quickly as we could. A lot of people had missed quite large chunks of pre-season so it was always going to be a stop-start to the season because of unavailability.

“We always thought once the boys had got up to speed and had a run of games under their belt that we’d hit our straps.

“I was hoping we would hit them a bit sooner than we have, but we’re starting to play some good football again and we’re looking less likely to concede than we did a month ago.

“It is credit to the team as a whole, they are defending from the front and getting behind the ball quicker and making it difficult for opposition players to get into attacking areas to cause threats to us.

“There have been lots of long sessions and hard work and it feels like it’s just starting to bear fruit now. Fingers crossed that it can continue.”

Cutting out the defensive errors and going back to basics were some of the keys to turning their form around.

“It was just basic stuff really, but football is pretty basic when you strip it all back,” said Nightingale. “We’ve got into good shape quicker, and we still carry that threat going forward.

“It’s always a worry that if you try to change the balance too quickly, you sometimes lose that threat when you’re in the attacking third.

“Thankfully, we haven’t lost that and we still look as potent as ever going forward. It’s just coming at the right time for us really.”

City are away to Peterborough Sports in the first round of the FA Trophy this Saturday (October 13).